AOL, the Time-Warner owned American Internet services and media company, has bought a controlling interest in the German firm Adtech AG. An online adserving firm based in Frankfurt, Adtech provides digital marketing solutions in 25 countries.Adtech is involved in selling online adverts that appear on websites in these countries, and has also developed the Helios IQ platform. The Helios platform is a product that lets advertisers manage, traffic, serve and report on their online digital advertising campaigns. The deal gives AOL access to this so-called 'next generation' ad serving platform.
AOL is already heavily involved in the online advertising field and currently own Advertising.com, which provides advertisers with display, video and affiliate advertising networks. This network has a large user base in the USA, but hasn't been quite as successful in the European market.
This acquisition is said to complement AOL's existing advertising.com property, allowing advertisers access to the advanced Adtech campaign management and reporting tools, and increasing the number of sites outside the American sector to which the AOL network serves adverts.
The Adtech deal is similar in structure to some recent high-profile deals, such as Google's buyout of Doubleclick and Yahoo's acquisition of Right Media, in which a large online company buys a company to consolidate their expertise in the online advertising field.
The AOL-Adtech acquisition is of a smaller scale than the previous deals, this being more European focussed and involving smaller companies. The financial terms of this deal have not yet been disclosed but it is likely that, while the sums involved will not be as astronomical as those of the aforementioned deals - a huge $3.1 bn in the Doubleclick takeover - a lot of money is going to be changing hands.
AOL's performance is expected to remain in good standing within the online advert sales sector, with growth expected to be at least on par with the industry average. This acquisition represents Time Warner AOL's commitment to this field, and AOL's continuing transformation from the dial-up internet provider of yesteryear to a modern online advertising giant.
